This season might become the dawn of the Bosa era of defensive line play at Ohio State.

Joey Bosa assumed the starting job at strong side end in the third game and went on to be named
to two freshman All-America teams. The fact that he and the Buckeyes are playing Clemson tonight in
the Orange Bowl has been a bonus for him, since Ohio State has been practicing down the road from
his high school, St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

That leads to the “era” part. His younger brother, Nick, was a star defensive end for Aquinas
this past season as a sophomore, and he already has been offered a scholarship by Ohio State for
its 2016 recruiting class. Nick visited Ohio State practices at Nova Southeastern University in
Davie.

“I can’t say it because Joey might get mad, but the little brother might be better than Joey,”
said former Ohio State receiver Cris Carter, an assistant coach at Aquinas while also serving as an
NFL analyst for ESPN. “They’re good. They’re really good. Nicky Bosa is a very good freakin’
football player. He’s the best player on our team now, and he’s a sophomore.”

Andy Gruenebaum had a tough month. It was first assumed that he was a lock to
re-sign with the Crew, but he was in a tough spot because he lost his job as starting goalkeeper
when he was injured, and backup Matt Lampson played well enough to reduce his leverage.

After Gregg Berhalter took over as coach and sporting director, he said he didn’t like the
direction that the negotiations were headed — sources say the team made a low offer and Gruenebaum
balked — and the Crew traded him to Sporting Kansas City.

Because Gruenebaum is a Kansas City native and the team was replacing goalkeeping legend Jimmy
Nielsen, who retired after the club won the MLS Cup, many assumed that Gruenebaum was going to
become the starter. But coach Peter Vermes has since announced that after eight years as a backup,
Eric Kronberg will start.

“The last two years, he’s been more than ready to try to assume the position,” Vermes told
MLS.com. “The difference is that Jimmy’s been on top of his game. Eric gets a lot of credit for
that as well, because he’s obviously made that position extremely competitive.”

It will be interesting to see how Gruenebaum, who led Major League Soccer in saves two years
ago, handles the situation. He has been vocal about believing he is a starter in this league.

Gilbert Brule, the former Blue Jackets’ first-round draft pick who has had two
stints with the Phoenix Coyotes this season, might be close to retiring at age 27 to become a
firefighter. The Coyotes assigned Brule to minor-league Portland on Sunday, and he didn’t report.
According to the
Arizona Republic, he told Coyotes general manager Don Maloney that he was retiring.

“It’s pretty simple,” Maloney said. “He decided that he didn’t want to live out of a suitcase
anymore, was sick of living at hotels and told me he was going to quit hockey — maybe become a
firefighter. So what we do procedurally is we suspended him, and unless he has a change of heart
very, very quickly, we’ll go through the procedure of terminating his contract.”

Brule, the No. 6 overall pick in 2005, signed a two-way contract with the Coyotes in November.
Before that, he was on the brink of joining Russia’s Continental Hockey League but changed his
mind. He was pointless in three games with Phoenix.

“I think it is surprising,” Maloney said. “He’s still a relatively young player, but even though
he’s young, he’s been playing pro hockey for a long time. … I did mention it’s hard to make the
kind of money he’s making in the real world, but he’ll find that out pretty quick.”

Amir Williams’ foul problems resurfaced against Purdue. Ohio State’s 6-foot-11
junior has played well during the nonconference part of the schedule, but he managed to stay on the
court for only 14 minutes in the Big Ten opener.

Williams had four fouls and backup Trey McDonald had three fouls in seven minutes, a sign that
the Buckeyes might use a smaller lineup during conference play — and not necessarily by choice.

With the talented receivers in Ohio State’s 2014 recruiting class, some might have
forgotten about Jalin Marshall. But he is making progress behind the scenes. Coach Urban Meyer
mentioned him among several players who has been impressive in bowl practices, and sophomore
linebacker Joshua Perry raved about him.

“Man, that kid … he’s a stocky kid who can move,” Perry said. “He’s got all the natural ability
and really good body control you look for from a good receiver. He didn’t play this year, but the
kid came along really well, and he’s going to have a really bright future.”

When the Cleveland Browns hire their next coach, he will be the team’s eighth
coach since the franchise returned to the NFL in 1999. Unbelievably, it will be All-Pro offensive
tackle Joe Thomas’ fifth coach in seven seasons, after Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Pat Shurmur and
Rob Chudzinski.

Reports out of Cleveland have indicated that there was tension between the front office — CEO
Joe Banner has the final say on personnel decisions, and general manager Mike Lombardi evaluates
and finds personnel — and a coaching staff intent on trying to win immediately.

Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com reported that the front office wanted to shake up the locker
room by cutting a starter — receiver Greg Little or guard Shawn Lauvao — and Chudzinski balked. The
Browns have denied that such a disagreement occurred.